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CHAPTER 16
SOME SALIENT CHARACTERISTICS OF BUDDHISM
“Well expounded is the Dhamma by the Exalted One to be self-realised,
with immediate fruit, inviting investigation, leading on to Nibbána, to
be comprehended by the wise, each for himself.”
— Majjhima NikáyaFoundations of Buddhism
T
The four noble truths, which the Buddha himself discovered and
revealed to the world, are the chief characteristics and the
unshakable foundations of Buddhism.
They are suffering (the raison d’être of Buddhism), its cause, i.e.,
craving, its end, i.e., Nibbána (the summum bonum of Buddhism), and
the middle way.
The first three represent the philosophy of Buddhism, while the
fourth represents the ethics of Buddhism in accordance with that
philosophy.
All these four truths that constitute the Dhamma of the Buddha are
dependent on this body itself. They are incontrovertible facts wholly
associated with man and other beings.
Whether Buddhas arise or not these truths exist in the universe. It is
the Buddhas that reveal them to the world.
Buddhism rests on the pivot of suffering. Although Buddhism empha-
sises the existence of suffering yet it does not follow that Buddhism is a
pessimistic religion. On the contrary it is neither totally pessimistic nor
totally optimistic but realistic.
One would be justified in calling the Buddha a pessimist if he had
merely emphasised the truth of suffering without suggesting a means to
end suffering and gain eternal happiness.
The Buddha perceived the universality of sorrow and prescribed a
remedy for this universal sickness of humanity. The highest conceivable
happiness, according to the Buddha, is Nibbána, which is the total
extinction of suffering.
The author of the article on “Pessimism” in the Encyclopaedia Bri-
tannica writes:
“Pessimism denotes an attitude of hopelessness towards life, a vague
general opinion that pain and evil predominate in human affairs. The